Talk about how each team can contribute to the other
Keep the conversation a safe place to state when and how each team can help each other. Equally important, keep it a safe place to communicate to each team in which situations we want to avoid getting in the way of each others work. Think about it, if other teams were involved in every part of the UX process, it would significantly slow the work down to the point where company results would suffer.
Define the goals of collaborating together in the first few planning meetings. Communicate these goals every month to keep everyone on track.
Here are some examples of goals for collaborating with non-UX teams:
- Help non-UX teams have more empathy and understand user needs by sitting in on Usability sessions. This will also help other teams buy into to what your UX team is doing.
- To keep other teams informed about what will be in each release so others teams that take customer service calls or help customers in other ways don’t get thrown off guard when interacting with customers. In other words, to keep non-UX teams informed so they don’t get caught off guard by something that may affect their work. Your non-UX teams will love your UX team for keeping them informed on what customer will see in each release. No one likes to be unpleasantly surprised.
Involve them in the UX research process
Include them to observe usability session and help take notes. All companies need employees who are in touch with their customers thought processes, needs and goals. Your senior leaders will see your UX team as a team that helps other teams be more customer-centric. I have found that business partners in all departments enjoy listening in and watching usability sessions. For remote team collaboration, explain how you take the data from each research study to synthesis them into insights and how you incorporate the insights into your UX flows and designs. Don’t let them sit over your shoulder while you synthesis the research, create research reports or update the designs, but give them an idea of how it is done. Set exactions that the other teams will have to learn the UX process as they go and that your UX team does not have time to train them on every part of the UX process. For teams that are located in the same building, you can take notes on sticky notes and categorize them into groups to create UX insights together.
Your UX team should communicate to non-UX teams how they can contribute to the UX process
Your business partners can help your UX team know the customer and business scenarios that need to be considered in the design. Also, your IT partners can help you understand what data is available and what is technically feasible. I can’t tell you how many times business scenarios come up over the course of a project. Tell your business partners to help gather the scenarios up front, organize them and share the with your UX team as early in the project as possible.
Create a process of at what points in the UX process others teams will be involved
Put together a simple UX process and highlight the parts that you will collaborate with non-UX teams. Don’t over document this but define at what parts of the process where other teams will be involved and which parts the UX team will work on without interruption. This will set expectations, build trust between the teams and minimize the friction between your UX team members and members of other teams.